It is well known in the art of roofing shingle production, to employ asphalt-based compositions as saturants on base materials such as felt, glass fibers, asbestos and the like. As extenders, it is customary to inlcude in the coating certain filler materials which increase the quantity of material saturatable by the asphalt, which materials act to absorb wear on the shingle. Such fillers, however, act to increase the viscosity of the asphalt making it less pentratable of the base materials and requiring that the application of the asphalt to the base materials be made at higher temperatures of compensate for the increase in viscosity of the asphalt upon addition of the filler.
This invention is directed to the solution of that problem and also improves the weatherability of the asphalt and tear strength of the resulting asphalt shingle.